


Lucifer Gonna Set Me Free

by kethni



Series: Afterlife [2]
Category: Veep
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, Hell Fic, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:18:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9607322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kethni/pseuds/kethni
Summary: Kent wasn’t smiling but there was a gentle hint in His voice, He was inviting her to amusement, to laugh at Him.To let Him off the hook.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Follows 'The Life, Death, and Afterlife of Selina Meyer.'

 

 

There was a lot of dust in the air. The Russians had been bombing again. Or possibly it was the Chinese, He'd didn’t know anymore. He didn't have the same interest in the minutia of human politics he once did.

He walked over the dying turf without leaving a footprint or damaging a blade of grass. That was the stuff of lurid stories, things dying or fleeing at His touch. That was nothing but propaganda and, contrary to public opinion, the other side invented that. He merely popularised it.

The house was boarded up. The fountains had run dry. There were tangles of barbed wire strewn about the courtyard.

He knelt to fuss a scrawny cat. She bunted His hand and purred when he produced a can of food. There were a lot of animals living on the estate, far more than might have been expected even in its dilapidated state. While humans prided themselves on their intelligence, animals relied on their instinct, which generally served them better. Instinct, not intelligence, told the cats, birds, mice, squirrels, and various other small furry things that this place was under some protection. That this place was safer than anywhere around it.

Kent brushed off His hands, sauntered past the man-traps, and ignored the trip wires. So delightfully old-fashioned. Although thoroughly modern in most ways, He did appreciate the charmingly archaic. Nostalgia was one of His most popular innovations.

He placed a sack of vegetables and vacuum sealed meat on the doorstep, along with a barrel of fresh water and a carton of medicines. He stood, straightened His sleeves, and rapped on the door. Then He strolled away.   

Sue had her arms folded and was tapping her foot.

‘Not a word,’ Kent said, strolling past her.

‘This is ridiculous.’

‘What part of “not a word” is difficult to understand?’

She followed Him back below. ‘Understanding is not the same as agreeing.’

Kent narrowed His eyes. ‘Did I ask for your agreement?’

‘No, Sir,’ she said meekly. Or what passed for meekly, for her. ‘However, you are The Rebel. Demanding obedience would be hypocritical.’

‘Hypocrisy is underrated.’ Kent straightened His sleeves.

‘This is a self-indulgence,’ Sue said. ‘Nobody will ever know that you’re doing it. What’s the point?’

‘Self-indulgence is its own pleasure.’ Kent looked at Himself in the mirror. He smoothed down His hair. ‘The point is that I wish to do it.’

‘It would be kinder to kill them,’ Sue said.

Kent raised His eyebrows. ‘I wasn’t aware it was my occupation to be _kind_.’

Sue straightened her shoulders. ‘No.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Do you wish to punish me?’

‘I am sure you would be the first to call that hypocritical,’ He said.

Her expression tightened. ‘As you say, Sir.’

Kent touched her face. ‘You know that you much prefer yours to be the hand wielding the whip. There are any number who would gladly indulge you.’

‘It’s not the same.’

He dropped His hand. ‘I trust that all here remains as I left it.’

‘These are the latest intake,’ she said, handing Him a sheaf of paper. ‘Although we have a greater percentage overall than previously, there is a much sharper distinction.’

Kent nodded. ‘War does encourage a certain type of _heroism_ in a certain type of person.’ He said the word with distaste.

‘And an astonishing degree of selfishness in others.’ 

Kent leafed quickly through the papers. ‘I think it’s time to allow Ms Meyer a brief respite.’

Sue raised an eyebrow. ‘A respite?’

‘Dinner, I think.’

‘You realise that she is hardly likely to wish to spend any time with You,’ Sue said. ‘In there, she barely tolerates You. Here she will have no motivation to do so.’

Kent waved His hand. ‘Your understanding of human nature has always been poor.’

Sue sniffed. ‘As You say I'm sure.’ She looked at the clocks on the wall and found the one that showed the time in that one particular area. ‘The current sequence will be ending shortly. I'll bring her out then.’ She pursed her lips. ‘For the good it may do You.’

‘Your graciousness remains a lesson to us all.’

‘Forgive me for not wishing You disappointed. You always take it _so_ well.’

Kent handed the paperwork back to Sue. ‘Do what you can to make her comfortable when she comes out.’

‘I could give her an axe and a target with Your face on it.’

‘A shower would probably be more conducive to her comfort,’ Kent said dryly.

‘I will even give her a rubber ducky,’ Sue said. ‘If You think that will help.’

***

Kent could have withdrawn Selina Himself. He didn’t. Submission was a performance for which He had little patience. Sue disapproved of His involvement in Selina’s punishment. She thought it an insult, to _her_. Sue imagined that His presence implied that He didn’t trust her with Selina. Correcting her misapprehension would have merely convinced her that Kent was growing weak or deluded. Perhaps ripe for rebellion. Playing the part of the disliked advisor allowed Him to be close to Selina. He wouldn’t have done it for anyone else. Refusing even the _pretence_ of submission was the reason that He was ruling here instead of serving there.

Kent watched Sue lead Selina out. Selina moved like a somnambulist ballerina. Her face and eyes were blank. Less than an hour ago, He had watched her screaming in rage and hurling ornaments at the wall. Kent was used to seeing pain and misery slowly corrode everything bright and vital in a person. Selina’s passionate rage, her refusal to surrender, those were unusual. Not unique, that was impossible, but they were rare and refreshing.

***

Selina’s hands were shaking as she pushed her hair back from her face. She looked at them: her hands. Except they weren’t _her_ hands. They were a memory, or a hallucination. They weren’t real. The water wasn’t real. The shower wasn’t real.

Yet they were more real than the conversations she had an hour ago. More real than the people she had plotted with. More real than the misery and humiliation of being vice-president.

More real than Catherine.

Selina could remember the smell of Catherine’s shampoo. How was that possible? Something so tiny, so inconsequential, as the smell of her shampoo. There were so many minute details: the grunt Gary made when he ate, the squeak of Selina’s chair as she turned, Ben’s audible breathing, the way her shoes always seemed to crush her toes or pinch her heels.

All lies. All calmly designed and coldly implemented. Just as every humiliation, every disaster, and every devastating defeat was plotted, designed, and executed.

The water _felt_ real. Her shaking body and fluttering heart _felt_ real. Far more real than the memory of her shower that morning. Now she could feel the water hitting every inch of her body. Smell the water. Hear it patter down around her.

Selina leaned her head against the cool tiles. She was expected to get dressed and go out and pretend. Pretend that this wasn’t monstrous. That nothing had changed.

***

She shivered. Wasn’t that a fucking joke, shivering _here_? She was sat on a chaise in the changing room, still wrapped in a towel. There was a selection of outfits laid out for her to choose from. They’re were attractive but tasteful. Nothing gauche or slutty. But she knew. Selina looked at the clinging fabrics and high heels and she _knew_.

She sat, cold, wet from the shower, and shivering, until some internal clockwork went _click_ and she tore the clothes down, ripping them apart with her bare hands. She threw the shoes at the walls, and swept the jewellery onto the floor.

The torn clothes neatly reassembled themselves. When she looked away for a moment, they had returned to their hangers.

There was a tap on the door. Selina ignored it. She swept the clothes onto the floor and kicked them across the carpet.

Another tap.

‘Fuck off!’ Selina screamed. She yanked the door open and bared her teeth at Him. ‘Leave me the fuck alone!’

He produced a robe for her. She grabbed it, pulled it on over her towel, and stamped back into the room. Kent followed her as she sat on the chaise.

‘Don’t touch me, You dick,’ she said, staring at the floor.

‘Are you cold?’ He asked gently.

Selina lifted her feet up onto the seat, and hugged her knees to her chest. ‘Fucking freezing.’

The room grew warmer. Kent handed her a towel. She snatched it from Him.

‘Don’t touch me.’

‘I’m not touching you.’

She rubbed her hair with the towel. ‘This morning I was in Paris. I spoke to Catherine.’ She twisted the towel between her hands. ‘Where’s Catherine?’ she asked quietly. ‘That wasn’t her, was it?’

‘No,’ He said. ‘Catherine isn’t here.’

Selina looked at Him. The sympathy in His eyes was crushing.

‘Is she…?’ She looked up to the ceiling.

‘No. She’s living in San Francisco.’ She heard the smile in His voice.

‘I wanna see her.’

Kent interlaced His fingers. ‘That would be unwise.’

‘I just wanna know that they’re all okay!’ Selina insisted. ‘Is she still with Marjorie? How old are the kids?’

Kent took the towel from her. ‘Marjorie died during the earthquake,’ He said gently.

Selina put her head in her hands. ‘Right, fuck. My fault for forgetting her. Do I always forget that?’

‘Always?’

‘When you drag me out of my hell.’ Selina dropped her hands and looked at Him. ‘Do we go through this same fucking rigmarole every time?’

He shook His head. ‘This is your first time out.’

She left out a breath. ‘Oh, thank fuck.’

‘You've been dragged from the midst of a nightmare,’ Kent said. ‘The next time you'll be better prepared. You’ll shake it off.’

Selina dried her legs. ‘I hope you’re right.’

‘I don’t enjoy your distress, Selina,’ He said gently. ‘Once the shock and disorientation has passed you will feel yourself again.’ He gave a small smile. ‘You might even allow me to touch you.’

‘Don’t hold Your breath,’ Selina grumbled. She straightened her back. ‘So, I'm supposed to doll myself up and parade around like a harem girl, am I?’

‘As enticing as that sounds, I thought we might have dinner.’

Selina gathered her gown around her. ‘So, this a supernatural booty call?’

‘I’ve missed you,’ Kent said.

She rubbed her forehead. ‘I thought that was You in there,’ she said softly.

‘Mostly it is. I see you all the time, but you don’t see me.’

He was asking her to ask what He meant, but she knew. She knew and she didn’t want to know.

Selina gave Kent a look. ‘Mostly?’

‘In what you might call… crowd scenes, there’s little need for my actual presence. I have several billion other souls to oversee. I'm sure you can imagine the kind of paperwork that accrues.’

Kent wasn’t smiling but there was a gentle hint in His voice, He was inviting her to amusement, to laugh at Him.

To let Him off the hook.

‘You appear in their hells too?’ she asked. It was another question she knew the answer to.

‘Just yours.’

Selina looked at His face. ‘Will I remember this?’

‘The next time that you’re here,’ He said. ‘Not in between.’

She nodded. ‘Okay. Get out.’

Kent raised His eyebrows.

‘I gotta get dressed,’ Selina said. ‘I don’t care if this isn’t actually my body. I don't want You gawking at me until I'm ready. So, get out and let me get dressed.’

Kent stood up and straightened His sleeves. ‘As you like.’

Selina watched Him walk over to the door. ‘Don’t be thinking this means I'm definitely putting out.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

‘Do you dream?’ she asked. ‘Sue said I wouldn’t sleep when I died.’

Kent looked at her thoughtfully. ‘If you want to sleep tonight, to dream, you can.’

Selina nodded.

***

The room was full of candles. Selina thought of a hundred smart ass comments, but instead smiled at Kent’s long, slow stare.

‘It’s a good dress, huh?’ she asked.

‘It is.’

She stepped back when He stepped forward.

‘Tell me Catherine is okay,’ she asked.

He clasped His hands together. ‘She’s in health. Her needs are met.’

‘The kids?’

‘The same,’ He said.

Selina licked her lips. ‘How bad is it there?’

She knew. Just from the slight hesitation.

‘It’s bad,’ Kent said. ‘You knew it would be.’

‘Are you proud of yourself?’ Selina asked.

‘Are you? I facilitated. The decisions were yours.’

‘I didn’t know the consequences,’ Selina said quietly.

Kent stepped towards her. ‘You didn’t want to know.’ He put His hand to her cheek. ‘You’re too strong to pretend to be weak. You were no victim, Selina.’

She set her shoulders. ‘I’m no fucker’s victim.’

He smiled. ‘No.’

‘But Catherine and her kids?’ She looked into His eyes. ‘You’re not just telling me what I wanna hear?’

He shook His head. ‘Ask Sue, if you wish. She disapproves.’

It took her a second, to understand what wasn’t being said.

‘You’re looking out for them.’

He held up a finger. ‘I didn’t say that.’

Selina nodded. ‘Sure. Something like that would be bad for Your reputation.’

‘Terrible.’

She tilted her head. ‘You’d have no possible reason to do something like that. It'd be...’

Kent leaned forward. ‘Self-indulgent.’

‘I was gonna say weird.’

‘Ah.’

Selina wrinkled up her nose. ‘Sue called it self-indulgent, didn’t she? She’s got kind of a puritanical streak, that one.’

He chuckled. ‘She was heartbroken when Cromwell died. The puritans were her masterpiece.’

‘Was I yours?’ Selina asked.

‘No. You were never that to me.’

Selina nodded. ‘Good.’ She looked around the room. ‘Are we gonna eat, or are You gonna sweep all the dishes to the floor and fuck me on the table?’

He thought about it. ‘We could do both.’

***

‘I want to see your wings,’ she said.

She had to turn away from the light.

‘I thought they’d be dark,’ she said muttered. ‘Or damaged.’

‘Why?’

She arched her back. ‘Just seemed… dramatically satisfying.’

She felt Kent’s chuckle vibrate against her skin.

‘I hope you’re not too disappointed,’ He murmured.

Selina’s breath caught. Her heart was drumming in her chest. ‘I’ll live,’ she managed. ‘Or not.’ 

***

Sue was waiting. Selina was unsurprised to see that she was frowning slightly.

‘Madam President,’ she said.

‘Hey, Sue.’ Selina straightened her blouse. ‘I thought He might come with.’

Sue sniffed. ‘He has many calls on His time.’

‘And he spends too much time with me?’

‘It’s not my place to say,’ Sue said primly. She softened slightly. ‘He will return to you shortly.’

Selina nodded. ‘Hey, Sue, how many times have I been out before?’

Sue raised her eyebrows. ‘This is the first time.’

‘You sure?’

‘It is hardly something I would forget.’

Selina smiled. ‘Thanks, Sue.’

 


End file.
